A female SOLDIER
by Wings of the Skies
Summary: Lightning, Claire, got into first class and her goal started to prevent anyone from finding out that's she's a female. What happens if Genesis, out of all people, found out she was one and she started falling for him? Discontinued until further notice!
1. 1st class SOLDIER Ace

**Hi! New story! I haven't been on because of all the exams and on! Now it's over! Yay! ^^**

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing here this time...**_

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I sighed and looked out of the window. It has been 2 years since I joined SOLDIER and trained to be a 1st class. Who am I? My name is Lightning, or rather, Clair. But here, I'm known as Ace Arrow. Why? Because female aren't allow here but I'm not going to allow a stupid rule stop me from becoming a 1st class.**

**I sat on a chair and sighed again. Suddenly, the door flew open making me fall onto the floor with a loud thud.**

**"Owww…" I grumbled as I rubbed my sore back.**

**"Whoops, sorry!" my roommate Lane Sky bowed as a form of apology.**

**"Lane! How many times must I tell you not to fling the door open?"**

**Lane shrugged and I sighed.**

**The director, Lazard, is choosing a few soldiers to join the 1st class and we were waiting for the results. I hope I get chosen.**

**"By the way Ace, you're hair is so soft and silky. Are you sure you're not a girl?"**

**I received another shock.**

**"I'm kidding! Just kidding, you are so easy to fool!"**

**I growled. Lane usually makes smart comments to make me irritated which always work out perfectly…**

**"Anyway, have a good night's rest."**

**"Okay! Goodnight Lane!"**

**"Goodnight Ace."**

**The next morning…**

**I yawned and stretched. I took a quick shower and went down for breakfast.**

**Lazard was talking with the 1st class soldiers. We just finished breakfast when Lazard made an announcement.**

**"Good morning soldiers! I hope you had a good rest. Among the 200 entries to register for 1st class, I chose one person to be the fifth 1st class. His name is Ace Arrow!"**

**I gasped! Me? A 1st class? Wow!**

**"Will Ace Arrow come on stage?"**

**I walked up and Lazard whispered to me "You may remove your helmet."**

**I did and my dyed blonde hair fell back. Everyone stared at me and I started panicking. Lazard smiled.**

**"This is the face of your new 1st class!"**

**A loud round of applauds started and I walked off stage. The rest of the 1st class greeted me. They were okay I guess…**

**"Welcome ta 1st class! I'm Zack! The red-head is Genesis, that's Sephiroth and this is Angeal," a blue-head (you know what I mean) greeted me.**

**"I'm Clai- I mean, I'm"**

**"Ace Arrow, nice to meet ya!"**

**"Nice to meet you too!"**

**Genesis's eyes met mine but I quickly looked away.**

**"Ace, you're a-"**

**"Ace, I see you met the rest of the 1st class," director Lazard nodded approvingly.**

**"Yes, director."**

**"Ace, you'll be sharing a room with Genesis. Is that okay with you?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Awwwwwwww! No fair! I wanna share my room with Ace!" Zack whined.**

**"Zack!" Angeal scolded.**

**"No way!" Sephiroth shouted.**

**"Ace?" Genesis asked looking at me.**

**"…" I didn't know what to say.**

**"Ace is sharing with Genesis and that's final!" director Lazard said as he left.**

**As we headed for the rooms, Zack kept asking me questions.**

**"Zack, stop torturing the new guy!" Angeal urged.**

**When we arrived at the rooms, I rushed inside and slammed the door. Genesis came inside. **


	2. Cocoon, Serah and Snow

**Well, here's chapter 2! ^^ Enjoy!**

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I bounce slightly on the free bed**** and let my hair fall free. It has been so long since I was able to let my hair fall freely! It feels great!**

**Genesis entered and was looking at me the whole time. I felt very awkward and it was embarrassing to have a guy starting at me.**

"**Hello~? Genesis? Please stop starting at me!"**

"**Sorry Ace."**

"**What's wrong?"**

"**Nothing! But you really look like a female. Are you one?"**

**I was caught off guard by the question. It took me minutes to realize that I was being asked. I started asking myself the same question. Am I Claire or Ace? Am I known as Claire or Ace? Am I a female or male? Of course, I knew the answer myself.**

**The snapping of fingers brought me back to reality.**

"**Ace, answer my question."**

**I kept mum. How the heck am I suppose to answer the question.**

"**Never mind forget!"**

**Suddenly, his phone rang.**

"**Hello?"**

**I knew it was director Lazard. Who else would call him? By his expression, I knew it was important and by knowing Lazard, he'll never let a rookie like me go on an important mission. I sighed and fell back down onto my bed.**

"**Get up Ace!"**

"**Why?"**

"**We got a mission."**

**I whined for just a second before getting up of bed. I styled my hair in a ponytail instead of my usual hairstyle.**

**When we arrived at Lazard's office, I yawned. Genesis stomp on my toes to make me close my mouth. I cringed for a second and growled at him. He smirked and Lazard started the briefing for the mission.**

**Blah, blah, blah…**

**When we arrived, I realized we were at Cocoon. I started panicking but tried my best to look calm.**

**As I wasn't listening at all what Lazard was saying so I asked Genesis a dumb question. Just wishing and hoping that Serah isn't here.**

"**What's the mission again?"**

"**To find a military soldier called Lightning."**

**After he said that, I froze. Lightning? That was me! But I let the military years ago!**

**I looked around Cocoon. Nothing has changed much except that normal people and ****l'Cie are living together in harmony. If only it had been like this years ago…**

**Genesis had al****ready started asking around. I groaned. Most of the people gave the same answer. It was either "I have never heard about Lightning before!" or "Light left the military years ago!"**

**I was tailing Genesis from place to place and was turning ever now and then to make sure Serah wasn't anywhere near. People may not recognize me but Serah will no matter how I look like.**

"**Excuse me but do you know who Lightning is?" Genesis asked again.**

**I was starting at his shoes and suddenly froze at his voice. I gulped. It was Snow!**

"**Yeah, I know her. In fact, she's my sister-in-law."**

**Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was tackled. That was the last thing I remembered before I blackout.**

**When I came to it, the first thing I saw was Serah's face. I immediately silenced her with the look in my eyes.**

"**That's good! So can you lead me to her?" Genesis asked.**

"**To tell you the truth, she's the one behind you."**

**Snow pointed to me and Genesis turned. I gulped.**

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**Sorry it's so short! Out of ideas for now... Pls tell me what you want Light to do in the next chapter! ^^"**

**Pls drop me a review! *puppy eyes* **

**Bye for now!**

**Dawn~**


	3. Back to SOLDIER and revealing who i am

I'm going to be M.I.A for a while. Besides, it's my birthday week so my brain wasn't thinking straight when i was typing this. I'm sorry for the mistakes i made.

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I turned and gulped. Genesis came over and looked at my awkwardly and I started to curse in my mind. Genesis started asking questions again.

"You mean Ace is Lightning?"

"Yup!" Snow replied to Genesis's question.

"I'm not Lightning!" I denied.

"What are you saying? You're- Ouch!"

Serah had just stomp on his foot.

"What he means to say is that Lightning looks a lot like Ace," she smiled sweetly.

I heaved a sigh of relief when Genesis bought it. That was a close call!

"Then why did you tackle Ace?"

"I though he was my sister…" Serah smiled embarrassed.

I laughed. I had to act like I was amused.

"Sister?"

Serah started explaining about me and the story dragged on and on. It gave me enough time to talk to Snow about who I am now and what he should call me. She even told Genesis that 'Lightning' left the military and left Cocoon years ago.

Genesis seemed to have bought the story as he nodded. He looked at Serah and at me.

"You do look like also like Serah, are you sure you aren't related?"

All three of us shook our quickly head.

After saying our goodbyes, we returned to SOLDIER.

We were in Lazard's office to report that the mission was a failure. Lazard seems to be expecting that outcome. You see, Lightning has been missing for years so it wasn't so surprising.

We headed back to our room and I was thinking about a few things when Genesis question popped back into my head.

I looked at Genesis who was walking in front of me. I had a feeling he was gonna ask me the question when we returned and I was right.

"Ace, answer me! You are a girl, aren't you? You're Lightning right?" he demanded when we arrived.

I open my mouth to answer no but instead, a soft yes came out.

He looked at me when I answered.

"Why did you answer the truth?"

"You knew I was a female?"

Genesis smirked. He went straight to the director's office with me. I knew it was the end of the road for me.

"Director Lazard, I have news for you."

Lazard held up his hand as he was on the phone. After he hung up he turned to Genesis.

"You said you have new for me?"

"Yes, the mission isn't a totally failure."

"It isn't, is it?"

"I know who Lightning is."

Genesis stole a glance at me. I looked down.

"Who is Lightning?"

"She's-"

"She's?"

"She's Serah's sister!"

I shot up and started open mouth.

"Who is Serah?"

Genesis explained everything but left out the fact that I was a female. I guess he decided to keep the secret after all.

When we returned to our room, I thanked him. He scared me there or a moment.

There's also a problem with me. I'm started to fall for him…

It's almost time for training. Better get ready... I wonder what will happen today. I'm sure Zack will do something stupid.

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Sorry there was so much speech. As i said, my brain isn't thinking straight...


	4. My sisters, Pandora and Dawn Aurora

**Sorry, i'm really bored out of my mind. Nothing to do and ideas in my head.**

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"I'm bored!" whined Zack. He stood outside watching Genesis go though the basic training routine.

"Zip it Zack!" hissed Sephiroth. His anger gleamed in his cyan eyes as Zack ignored his threat.

I sighed. Zack was getting more annoying as I waited for my turn. My minds continuously debated if should or should not use my Odin summon.

During Zack's turn everyone noticed his stupidity, as the monsters had easily over ruled him rather than the other way around. I rolled my eyes at his idiocy. It was hard to believe that he was ranked as a high ranking solider. In the end, it was Angeal that saved his ass from being killed.

"Ace, you're up!"

Snapping back to reality and walked into the training room. On my way there, Genesis approached me and whispered, "Good luck Light…" He had a smug look upon his face.

I rolled my eyes and I turned away quickly without another word. I changed quickly in the change room and got ready for my battle exercise in the training room.

The battle was quick and simple. It was nothing compared to the battles in Cocoon. There was no need to summon Odin or even kill the monsters using my blade. It was simpler to use the gun on my Blazefire Saber. My perfect accuracy allowed the targets to be knocked down in a single shot. It almost felt too easy for my taste.

My first shot at the monster killed it instantly, than an explosion followed afterwards destroying all the other monsters and leaving an enormous hole in the training room. Everybody blinked in surprise at my display of power. Even I felted shocked at my own strength.

"Why is there a hole in the training room?" Lazard demanded as he entered the training room. His eyes became wide at the damage of the room.

"We were training sir and well… Ace's Blazefire Saber kind of destroyed the room in the process." Zack mumbled nervously.

Lazard just looked almost heartbroken. It was like he had lost a part of himself.

"It is just a training room…" Lazard mumbled to himself and walked away. His voice expressed no emotion.

"Okay," I thought to myself. That was an unexpected turn of events. He was as calm as a cucumber. This wasn't like Lazard at all.

"NOOOOOOOO! MY TRAINING ROOM!" he suddenly screamed.

That was the reaction I expected. I didn't know whose fault it was for this mess. It was his fault for not building the room stronger, knowing the fact that reckless people would be training here on a daily basis. Okay maybe it was kind of my fault too. It was mine fault for under estimating my strength in battle and over estimating the threshold of this room. Then again it wasn't like this was my training room in the first place.

Within the next few days everyone was called upon for more missions related to finding information on "Lightning". Of course, I knew everything about myself already so it felt pointless. Who wouldn't know everything about oneself? The only question in my head would be the number of gun blades I used over the past.

"So I think we should go to Cocoon and talk to Serah." Genesis stated.

"We should but we don't need to." I replied. I sensed his uneasiness of the confrontation with Serah and learning the truth about me.

"No we must. Ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded. The past was a part of me that I didn't want to recall to anyone. It only seemed appropriate that Serah to tell him the truth.

My minded wandered to how everyone was doing now these days. I hadn't seen them in such a long time. It wasn't long before we landed in Cocoon. Serah was nearby the landing area ready to greet us. She always seemed to smile no matter what situation she was in, and it felt comforting to see her smile again.

As I got off the air craft along with Genesis I saw that Serah wasn't alone. A small smile appeared on my face as I saw the rest of the group. Everyone I traveled with was there. They approached me and without a warning they all embraced me in a group hug. I missed them greatly after the two year absence. There was never time to visit when I was in training.

"So you need information on Light?" Hope asked.

"Yes, you have any?"

"We can fill you in when she was an L'Cie but her life will have to be Serah's part," Fang explained.

"I see so can we get started?"

The task of explaining my life story was not an easy task. It took well over three full days to explain everything. Genesis never made a comment only asked questions to further his understanding of my life. I couldn't tell what he thought of my life. I never would admit it to him but I was curious of what he thought.

When we were done, I waved goodbye and we returned to SOLDIER. When we arrived, I realised that Zack was talking to a small group of girls. There were two blonde haired girls and one with auburn hair.

I looked closer realising that the two blonde hair girls were actually my sisters, Dawn and Pandora! I started panicking as Zack saw Genesis and I arrive back to headquarters. He waved us down and came over with the girls.

I knew that Serah could recognise me no matter what I looked like but Dawn was a different story. She was always active in the family, knowing all the latest gossip and news of the family. She was like the Lois Lane that never missed a good headline, which meant that news including me could never miss a beat with her.

"Zack, I think you owe me an explanation…" Dawn demanded as she faced Zack.

Zack looked at her unexpectedly as he raised his eyebrow.

"About her!" Dawn said as he pointed at me.

"Her?"

"Zack! It's Claire!"

"Dawn!" I screamed.

But it was too late…

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**I love cliff hangers! ^^**


	5. Truth about our parents

**Here, i change the POV around a bit.**

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Genesis looked at me puzzled.

"Claire? I thought she was Lightning!"

Dawn smirked but didn't say anything. She reached over and ran her hand through a strand of my hair. She examined the hair carefully with a smirk on her face. I knew that not thing in the world could fool her.

"That's a wig!" she announced. My eyes grew wide with worry and panic.

"You sure that's Claire, Dawn?" Zack asked uneasily. He scratched his head with confusion. I guess old habits never disappear. Even though I sometimes worried that he would scratch off all his hair, for all the times that he got confused.

I looked at Dawn and I knew that she didn't need to answer. With one swift hand she ripped the wig off my head. That was all the evidence that Zack needed to confirm Dawn's theory. His face became wide in shock and for a moment everything went silent.

"Wait until director Lazard hears about this!"

Pandora, the only one that had remained silent throughout the whole conversation suddenly came up to Zack. No one could read the expression on her face. It was calm and collected like her usually self. Suddenly a fist collided with Zack's head, as Pandora punched him hard on the head. Dawn and Pandora were famous in the family for torturing guys, especially Zack. I remembered the many times that Zack would be on the ground completely knocked out in a matter of seconds after Dawn and Pandora was done with him.

Looking over I remembered that my sisters had brought along another girl. A girl with the auburn hair as my eyes scanned for the other girl. Then I saw her and I couldn't believe my eyes. Dawn had dragged Sora along with her.

Sora was Dawn's best friend. She was exactly like Dawn in every possible way. They were calm, collected, independent and hot tempered people, and Sora even had a hobby for torturing guys especially Zack.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me?"

"It's your own fault!"

Dawn started to giggling at the two's antics.

"Alright! Pandora, Zack calm down," Dawn managed to calm herself down from the laughter.

Although it's hard to tell by their personality and constant fights they had, Zack was Dawn's younger brother. Meaning that he was my brother too, in fact he was my younger brother.

"Claire do you want me to keep Puppy's mouth shut for awhile?" asked Pandora.

Knowing Zack, he could blurt out everything in front of Lazard. I nodded accepting Pandora's offer to keep an eye on Zack for me. I knew he was going to get a hammering from Pandora and Dawn. And later he was going to be receiving a hard knockout punch to the forehead from me, similar to the ones I use to give to Snow.

"Claire, we came here on other business too. We need to talk." said Dawn. Her voice had lost the laughter from a moment ago.

"Okay, we can talk in my room,"

Just when we finished making our plans, Lazard approached us.

"Nice to see you again Dawn, Pandora and Sora! It has been a long time!"

I blinked. What did he mean by a long time? How did they know each other?

"Lazard, who are they?" Genesis asked. I still hadn't introduced my siblings to him. It didn't matter anyway, there would be a time and place to figure out things. I was still confused about the fact that Lazard knew my sisters and Sora.

"So you're here to see Zack?" asked Lazard.

"And Ace too!" Sora replied.

"I guess you guys could stay here for a while. Pandora, would you mind sharing a room with Zack?"

"Not at all!" she answered.

"So Dawn will be with Sora in the room next to yours, Zack."

"Fine by me," Dawn agreed.

"Whatever," he shrugged. There was no point in arguing the room arrangements he knew that Dawn and Pandora would beat the crap out of him regardless where he stayed.

When we arrived at out rooms, Zack called out "See you guys later!"

I simply waved good bye as he left for his room.

"I still owe him that beating…" I thought to myself. I was about to enter my own room, but was stopped by Genesis. He grabbed my arm and as I turned my head to face him. His cerulean eyes pierced through mine. I guess that I couldn't blame him for being frustrated at me. After all, I had a lot of explaining to do to him.

"Lightning, Claire, or whatever you call yourself. You owe me a huge explanation," Genesis hissed to me. I rolled my eyes at him, and nodded in agreement. I let into my room, and told him to wait for the others to come.

Within ten minutes everyone had gathered into my room. I knew that Dawn had a large amount of explaining to do. What had she meant by "_we need to talk_"?

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I twirled a strand of my long blonde hair, as I felt the anxiety build up inside me. I didn't want to wait any longer. I needed to tell the truth and explain why the three of us had come to the SOLIDER headquarters. It was about time that Claire learned the truth. Everyone was staring at me waiting for me to begin. I looked over at Pandora than at Sora. They both nodded at me for support,

"As all of you guys may know. We are orphans, whose parents died of a mysterious disease back when Pandora and I were seventeen."

Everyone nodded in agreement. I took a deep breath before I continued.

"That was all a lie, our parents never died from a disease,"

I saw the surprise in Claire's face and the shock in Zack's. I could tell that Genesis was surprised by the news too. I doubt that Serah would have told him anything; since she didn't know herself.

"Our parents were killed during a mission in Edge. They were murdered by soldiers from the military. Pandora and I became responsible for everyone and took it as our jobs to raise our siblings. We took care of everyone, Zack, Claire, Serah, Arc and ourselves."

I felt tears build up in my eyes as I relived the painful memories. My hands still shook as I remembered opening the letter that stated my parent's death. Reading the line "they were killed in action by the military," over and over and wondering what to do. The lies I told to my siblings to cover the truth and prevent them wanting to get revenge. I was one of the few people who knew the truth and carried a heavy burden.

"I'm sorry, Claire and Zack. I lied to you guys for so many years. I didn't want you guys to grow up seeking revenge and never looking towards new hope,"

"It's okay, I understand," she replied. Zack nodded his head in agreement. I smiled slightly and felt slight relief to know that the burden was lifted. My hands wiped away the tears and Sora came up and hugged me. I was glad that I had my family and friends there to support me.

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I couldn't believe that Dawn and Pandora had sacrificed so much for us. The burden of the truth was hard for them and somehow they had raised us with smiles every day. I didn't know if I could ever be that strong. Although I still did have one question to ask them.

"Why did you send Zack to SOLDIER than if you didn't want us to fight?"

"Oh well, mainly because he caused so much trouble at home, constant fighting at school, and being a pain in the ass. We just couldn't handle him anymore, so we decided to send the little bad ass to a school for bad boys and hoped that his ass would get whooped into shape."

I still remembered the days back when Zack was still living with us. He made everyone's day a living Hell. He never was bad back when mom and dad were alive. I guess that was his way of handling mom and dad's death. I guess everyone has their own way of handling the situation. I changed my name to lose my childhood and tried to become an adult. Dawn and Pandora took responsible and became our parents.

My thoughts snapped back into reality when I heard Genesis's phone ring. He answered it, only saying a few words.

"Lazard says that we all have to meet him in his office. He's got a new mission for us," he explained.

We nodded and quickly headed to his office. My thoughts kept playing the news over and over. I found it hard to believe all that has happened within one month. Genesis learned about my secret and my past. I found out the truth behind my parent's death.

"You okay?" Genesis asked. I could almost detect a slight bit of concern in his voice.

"Ya I'm fine," I replied.

We all entered Lazard's room and saw him sitting behind his desk. He busily wrote away at forms and papers. He looked up slightly at us and signaled for us to gather around.

"A new mission has arrived. I'm sending all you including Dawn, Sora and Pandora. Ace and Genesis you guys are the strongest among the 1st classes so you will accompany them. And I'm sending Zack along as a request from Dawn, even though I warned her about his lack of skill in battle,"

"Don't worry sir! The mission will be easy!" Sora smirked.

"You guys are to go to Edge. There has been numerous reports of a rumor that the military is planning a coup to overrun and take over Edge, I want you guys to go there and protect the town. I trust that you should be more than capable,"

"Yes sir!" I saluted.

It was ironic that only moments ago that I learned that the military was my enemy. Now I had a mission to defeat them and seek my revenge for my parent's death.

When we arrived in Edge, we decided not to part ways instead travel as a larger group. We all headed towards downtown where the meteorite statue stood proudly. I looked over to where Dawn stood.

"What's wrong Dawn?" I asked. I noticed that she was unusually quiet when we first arrived here.

"Claire," she paused, "This is where they died,"

I could easily hear the sadness in her voice, and her usual smile had disappeared. I simply hugged her, not wanting to say a word.

Suddenly a shot ran out and screams were heard. I turned around quickly and saw an army of soldiers approach us.

"Put your hand on the back of your head!" the men shouted at our group.

I cringed at the voice; it was the same command that was called in Bodhum, demanding that people be purged. I remembered the memories of people trying to escape an impossible fate, and when the killings of common people became the norm. It made my blood boil to see these men again.

I looked over to Dawn and saw her face filled with raw anger. I have never seen her mad this way before. It scared me to know that she had such a different side of her that no one ever sees. She pulled out her weapon and reckless charged at the nearest soldiers.

She easily broke through the main line of soldiers and quickly advanced to the back line where there leader stood.

There leader was a mid aged man who carried a long sword similar to Sephiroth's. He smiled as army ran through the town. I watched as Dawn ran to attack him. Her inhuman speed allowed her to flash from one spot to another. All went silent when suddenly Dawn disappeared for a moment and reappeared with her sword to the man's neck.

"My, my, what a pretty little thing we have here," he smirked. There was no worry or concern in his voice despite the fact Dawn had her sword towards his neck.

"So you're the one who killed my parents!" Dawn' voice was full with fury.

"Well who might you parents be my dear?" he asked so politely that I could have easily gagged from the sentiment.

"Platinum Aurora and Diamond Farron," she spoke.

"Oh I remember now, they died screaming their children's name," he mocked.

I heard him laugh and feel disguised with myself. It was the last thing I heard before I was knocked out.

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**I'm gonna be missing in action for a while. Sorry! School reopened! Oh and i'm not gonna post till i get 15 reviews! ^^ Happy reviewing!**


	6. Escaping from the military

**As promised... Here's chapter 6!**

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My body ached that was the first thing I realized when I woke up. Not that I would have been surprised of the pain. It would take more than a petty attack to be able to knock me out.

"Finally you're awake, we were worried for a second there," said Zack.

"What happened and where are we?" I asked. I rubbed the back of my neck trying to ease away the pain.

"Well as you can see, we are currently captured by the military and are considered threats to them," he explained, "They brought us here for now. They plan to transport us to a prison for attempted murder of their leader."

"What happened to Dawn?" I shouted, as I remembered the events leading up to our capture.

"Well as you can see Pan and Sora right now are trying to restrain her from tearing the cell open with her bare hands."

I looked over and I could see the anger and regret in her face. She was so close to getting her revenge. I was surprised that she hadn't broken out of Sora and Pandora's hold.

"Dawn was so close," he spoke again, "But as she was about to finish him off, he stopped her blade with his finger and knocked her away. And within moments he had knocked us all out including Genesis,"

I looked over at Genesis and I could tell that a part of his pride had been broken. He looked at me with his cerulean eyes but his usually smirk was gone. I wouldn't admit to him, but I missed his smirk. It just didn't seem right to see him miserable; it felt like a piece of me was miserable alongside him.

"You damn monkey!" shouted Dawn.

I looked over and saw the source of Dawn's anger. It was Crystal, Pandora's monkey. Pan never left the house without her monkey. However, the monkey wasn't a friend of Dawn's. Since the day that Pan had gotten Crystal, for some unknown reason Dawn never got along with Crystal.

That was the last straw for her – with a single twist, Dawn broke out of Pan and Sora's grip and pounced on Crystal, who dodged and jumped out of the cell. Just as we thought the monkey was safe, Dawn tore the cell open with her bare hands.

"Crystal! That's enough!" Pandora shouted. Crystal scampered back onto her arm and wrapped her tail around her.

I had a feeling that Pan had planned this in order to make Dawn rip the cell apart.

"Thanks Dawn!" Sora smiled.

"Get out of here already!" she said annoyed.

Zack tugged at Genesis and pulled him away. We all ran out of the cell and headed towards the end of the corridors. Suddenly we heard the sound of sirens and footsteps heading towards us.

"Attention. Red alert, prisoner escape!" The intercom sounded throughout the building.

As we turned the corner, we were stopped by soldiers. I got readied my weapon and charged into battle. Zack and Sora took to the right, while Genesis and I took on the soldiers to the left, and Pan and Dawn headed straight for the center.

It was obvious that most of these soldiers were merely trainees. They were being used as pawns, as we easily fought them off.

"I think I see an elevator lift up head," shouted Dawn, "Come on let's go."

I looked to her and nodded in agreement. I quickly countered my opponent's attack and knocked him out. Even as quickly as I was to defeat one opponent another one would be there to replace him. I was getting tired and body still ached from my last fight. Maybe that was why I had failed to realize that there was another solider behind me. As I blocked my original opponent, the other person charged at me with his blade.

"Lightning!" yelled Pandora.

My eyes grew wide as I saw the other person charge at me. There was nothing that I could do, as I stood there helpless.

His blade was barley two inches away from my body, before it stopped. I looked and saw that Genesis had stabbed though my attacker. I quickly shifted my attention back to my opponent. I counter attacked and finally defeated him.

"Thanks for waiting till last second before you stopped him," I replied annoyed, "That was a little too close for comfort."

"Oh don't worry, I would never let you get hurt that easily?" he smirked, "You're getting rusty Ace,"

I simply rolled my eyes at him, and turned away from him, as my cheeks grew hot. It felt good to know that he was getting back to his usually self.

"Let's just go, Genesis."

We all ran quickly on to the elevator lift. Dawn activated the controls and the platform descended down.

"Everyone stay close. We have to get into my car as soon as we are outside," explained Dawn.

"What car?" asked Genesis.

"Dawn always has her car in a capsule and can be brought out to use anytime," replied Pandora.

The platform stopped and we were instantly greeted by soldiers. Dawn and Pandora went ahead. Genesis and I stayed back and attacked the soldiers until everyone had managed to get away safely.

"The exit is up ahead," yelled Pandora.

We rushed though the exit leading us outside. Dawn threw her capsule at the ground and a puff of smoke came out. We all stood back as her car suddenly appeared. Zack immediately approached the car but was stopped by Dawn.

"Zack! If there is even a single scratch on my car, I will kill you!"

Sometimes I wonder if Dawn cares about her car more than our personal safely. But then again, her car was special. After all it wasn't common to have a car with the capabilities of flight.

Dawn quickly got in the driver's seat as she tried to start the car. We saw that more soldiers were running out of the building. Within moments our vehicle had been surrounded. We knew that we had to fight for a path.

"Everyone, get in the car now," commanded Pandora, "I'll clear a path."

"But," I replied.

"Now!" she shouted. We listened to her and got into the car. I watched from the window as she brought out her blade and Crystal suddenly grew huge.

She swiftly ran into the attackers, dodging and weaving her way though. She was known for her swift attacks and it clearly showed as many soldiers soon fell to the ground. Crystal defended her back, and attacked with his deadly claws.

"Light of the Holy King. God's Illumination" she attacked. She slammed her blade into the ground causing a beam of light to discharge from her blade. It easily cut through the soldiers and instantly destroyed anything it contacted.

Dawn quickly got out of the car and grabbed Pandora by the wrist.

"Hurry! There's not much time!" Dawn shouted

They both ran back to the car and got inside quickly. Pan had cleared the path and now it was our chance to escape. Without hesitation we flew into the air and followed the path she had cleared.

"Everyone buckle up and hold on tight," announced Dawn. "This is going to be a rough ride."

She swerved and dodged the gun shots from below, as we got higher and higher in the air.

"It looks like we got company," said Zack, as an airship chased after us.

"So they want to have some fun, eh?" smiled Dawn, as she activated the guns on her car.

She shot at the airship's left wing causing the airship to counter attack. She easily dodged their attack and landed a direct shot to the side of the ship. She shot again this time hitting the left wing and then the front end, causing the ship to crash.

"Yes! We kicked their asses!" celebrated Sora.

"It's time that we head back to HQ" said Genesis, "We better report what had happened."

"Okay, and next time we won't fail," I whispered. "We will avenge our parents' murder."

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**This time, 25 reviews! ^^**

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	7. Our angel

**Well, i decided to give you guy a break from waiting for ppl to review so i'll post chapter 7 now! I'm so sorry this took so long! I'm having exams now so i'll start working on my stories when they are over...**

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Our trip back to SOLDIER was a long and slow one. Usually, Sora would be bullying Zack, Dawn would be trying to kill Crystal and Pandora trying to stop her and I would be laughing at their antics. Genesis would be doing what he always does… reading LOVELESS without any other care in the world.

But instead I watched as Dawn flicker her fingers making sparks fly. They were small and weak exactly like how she must have felt after the battle. She had lost her only chance to finally get her vengeance on the people who had ruined her childhood. Despite the calmness in her face, her eyes showed the hurricane of lost and misery.

Turning my attention, I saw Pan stroking Crystal. Her face displayed no emotions but her eyes showed the same sadness and anger as Dawn's. It was easy for anyone to tell they were twins simply by the actions they took to be strong. They always placed a mask to hide their emotions on their face even when they felt sad or hurt.

I sighed as I saw that Zack had fallen asleep while Sora lazily played with the corners of his open mouth. She was handling the situation in her own way. She teased Zack as a way to distract herself from the feeling of misery. I let a small smile escape my lips as I watched her antics, but even Sora's antics seemed more slow and solemn.

Lastly I looked over to Genesis. He was the best for hiding behind a mask, never lighting a candle of emotion to anyone. But this time I could see a trace of sadness in his eyes as he hide behind his LOVELESS book. For some reason, I felt even more sorrow overcome me knowing that even the emotionless Genesis was befallen by despair.

I clenched my fist as I felt the tears come to my eyes. But I refused the let them fall, as I stared through the window and watched as the sun slowly started to set. The sky was beginning to darken as so did my heart. I felt pure rage rush through my veins as I thought back. In a mere second, Dawn had been knocked out and all hope was shattered. In a mere second the truth had been learned and her world had changed. She desired revenge and wanted those people who had killed her parents to suffer the same pain she had gone through.

"Life isn't a fair game," spoke Genesis, "There are people who have all the riches and didn't do a thing to get it. While others will work all their life and end up with nothing. Life is a game, but Claire, you're not alone."

I looked away from the view and our eyes met. He had seen how unease I felt after losing the fight. It was hard to believe that he was trying to help me move on. He didn't say another word as his eyes turned back to his reading.

"I know Genesis," I replied quietly, "I'm not alone."

When we finally landed back to head quarters, I could feel a dreading from the pit of my stomach. Knowing that I had failed in my mission and I knew that soon a lecture would greet me from Lazard only did worst to darken my mood.

There was no rest for any of us. We all were called to Lazard's office before we even had time to go to our rooms. The hallways seemed smaller and shorter as it felt like a second to reach Lazard's office.

"By the looks of your faces the mission was a fail?" he asked. He looked at each of us with a look of disappointment.

"Yes, it was sir," I answered, not letting any emotions escape as I spoke.

"I thought that I trained you all better! You rushed into the situation without a clear mind! Thanks to your irrational thinking we lost another area to the enemy! And you called yourselves SOLDIERS ranked, none of you are fit for that title if you cannot handle a mission like that!" he shouted.

There was a moment of silence and I could feel the anger inside me start to rise. But Dawn's actions spoke for my emotions as she slapped Lazard across the face.

"You know nothing of the situation and don't you dare assume you know everything that had happened!" Dawn sharply shouted back.

Lazard stood stunned as we all left his office without a moment's hesitation. Dawn was a person that never hesitated to show her emotions physically if she needed to. She never took crap from anyone and stood strong against anything.

"We're going back to our rooms Claire. It's getting really late," said Sora. I nodded in agreement.

Dawn was walking further ahead of us while everyone else crowded together. Dawn needed her space to think and reflect on the situation.

I clenched my fist again and kept wondering to myself. _"Why did we escape? We could have gotten our revenge. But we didn't."_

But Dawn's words echoed in my mind, _"We didn't want you to grow up seeking revenge and never looking towards new hope." _My fist relaxed and I sighed a breath to ease my mind. She was right to hide the truth all these years ago. I would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed. It was their responsibility to protect and raise us without revenge in our souls.

"Hey Claire," Zack whispered to me. "You okay?"

"I'll feel better if I get to do something."

"Then do it!"

Without hesitation, I punched him hard in the forehead; sending him backwards a distance knocking down everyone in the group other than Dawn who was far ahead of us.

"What was that for?" Zack jumped rubbing his sore head.

"You told me to do what I want to do so that's what!"

Zack had probably expected my reaction was to punch him out. I had grown fond of beating the crap out of him ever since the first time I watched as Dawn and Pan did the same thing. There was even more than one occasion where Dawn and Pan had nearly killed him.

"Can you two please stop fighting? Having a pissed off Dawn is bad enough but you two now? I'm stressed out enough as is. So stop it now or I'll kick both your asses," threaten Pandora as Sora pulled her up from the ground.

"Could you help us both up too?" Genesis asked. I rolled my eyes as I pulled him up and I looked to realized that Sephiroth had been crushed under Genesis.

Sephiroth had been caught in the crossfire because he had left his room at his room at the wrong time.

"Ace, if you don't learn to control your emotions I can promise you that you won't have any if you keep this up!" glared Sephiroth. He turned and left as I stood there frozen. Sephiroth was a man I did not want to take chances on.

"Okay I think that I'm going to bed now," said Sora, "We'll all meet tomorrow and talk."

"Yea, I like that plan," said Pandora, as she took Crystal in her arms and headed to her dorm.

"I think that I'm going to sit out for a bit," said Dawn.

"I'll come with you," I offered. I knew that I would be too restless to sleep tonight. I had too many thoughts and I needed time to sort them out.

"Let's go sit at the fountain in the park," she said. I nodded as we walked to the exit of the head quarters.

A few years back a park had been built outside the head quarters and at the centre laid a fountain where the statue of Athena the goddess of wisdom laid at its centre.

We sat down along the end and glazed at the full moon and the billions of stars. It was quiet and I felt my stress slowly fade away. I closed my eyes and thought back of everything. My mind kept replaying _"Claire, you're not alone,"_ over and over, as I realized how much closer we had gotten over the last few months. But now was not the time to think of much.

"It's been awhile since I wanted to fly," whispered Dawn.

I opened my eyes and saw six beautiful white wings appear on her back. It had been years since I last saw her wings. Dawn never let them out, she always said they looked too inhuman. She wanted to look as human as she can and never let anybody know of her angel features. But even without her wings she could be mistaken for an angel.

She had such beautiful long golden hair, and eyes the colour of amber, warm like the earth but they shine brightly like the sun. Even though she and Pan were twins, Pan had none of Dawn's angelical features. Dawn was special that much I knew throughout my life.

"Dawn, don't worry, you're not alone," I whispered.

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**I know it's short... And there's a poll on my profile. Pls vote! Btw, I was thinking of making a game and i need a programmer. Anyone who wants to do it pls PM me! ^^**


	8. Dawn's training and surprise visitors

**Sorry for the long wait! Here's chapter 8!**

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Even with that doubt in my mind I felt my spirit lifted when I saw her wings. Her simple determination was enough to put my doubts at ease a little for now. It felt like forever since I last smiled genuinely, but Dawn had a way to make anyone smile most of the time. I envied her in some ways, with her wings and kind heart.

"Claire, it's getting late, we should go to bed now. We can talk tomorrow,"

I nodded agreeing with the idea. As we head back my mind was racing thinking about what Dawn wanted to talk about. I hoped that it was good news.

I lie on my bed and let my thoughts wander about what had happen today. I felt chills down my spine as I thought of Genesis. He was always just a colleague but recently I've felt strange around him. I felt like I could be old self around him and I felt like I wasn't so alone in this world.

"Damn it Genesis!" I shouted at the roof. I laughed quietly "I think I've fallen for you," I was glad that he wasn't here to hear what I had said, as my eyes fell heavy and I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

I didn't wake up peacefully the next morning. In fact, I woke to a bucket full of ice cold water poured on me. Pandora and Sora had decided that they wanted their asses kicked and gave everyone a rude awakening. I shivered as I ran across the hallway chasing them with my gun blade. I wanted to shoot at them but I knew better than to actually hurt them.

"Damn they are fast," I mumbled as I chased them.

As I chased them down I turned the corner and ran full speed into Genesis who had just finished drying up. I knocked both of us down and getting him wet as well again.

"You okay?" he asked lending me a hand to get up. I avoided his glaze as I felt my face go red.

"Yea, I'm fine,"

"Claire, you are causing trouble this early in the morning!" laughed Pandora.

I gave her and Sora a death glare as they laughed at my awkward situation. My hand felt warm and I realized that I was still holding his hand and quickly let go. My face was getting redder with each moment.

"Enough fooling around you guys we are going to train," said Sora.

They dragged Genesis and me to the training room and toss us inside.

"I need to see how much you slacked off when we weren't around," Dawn smirked. "Last time that we trained you guys was before you had your adventure in Cocoon. And for you Genesis I haven't seen you fight before so I must say I'm quite curious."

I felt nervous that was for certain. Dawn's idea of training was intense and even when we were young she gave no mercy. I instantly readied my weapon and prepared myself. The monsters soon came out and attacked us mercilessly. There fighting strength was close to the creatures that I had fought during my L'Cie days. I had long lost my magic abilities since then but I continued to fight and make up for my lost strength. I smiled. It felt good to fight at that same strength again.

"Zack get you ass in there too, or I'll be the one kicking it," shouted Dawn, as Zack entered the training room.

"Okay, okay no need for threats," laughed Zack.

Zack quickly entered the battle. Within moments he was surrounded by three monsters, and I debated to help him out or not. But I looked at his face and I knew that he would be fine. His eyes were focused and he showed no fear. I shifted my attention back to the three monsters I was fighting with.

"Blade Beam!" Zack shouted as he thrust his buster sword into the ground of the training room as it emitted a radiance which destroyed the monsters in one touch.

What I didn't expect next was Dawn's ear piecing voice screaming at him.

"Zack look at what you have done!" she shouted pointing at the damaged area of the training room.

To our surprise, and Zack's shock, there were 2 more large holes right beside mine. Zack nervously scratched the back of his head. Genesis just stood there stunned while the rest of us glared at him. He was sure that Director Lazard would beat the crap out of him. Just then, Dawn, Sora and Pandora broke out in laugher.

"No need to worry Zack!" Sora managed in between her laugher.

"Yeah, he wouldn't even dare to touch you since we're around!" Pandora finished.

Dawn nodded her head in agreement. I knew it was true after all. I remember the time when we were bullied in school. Dawn and Pan never hesitated to beat the crap out of anyone who did that.

"Not another 2 holes!" someone screamed.

All of us turned and saw Director Lazard's face consumed in horror. He was about to say something when Dawn and Pandora glared at him and he nervously back away. The rest of us giggled at his action.

"You haven't change a bit!" a voice remarked.

"I see you haven't change either!" came Dawn's reply.

I snickered. That could only be one person, the only other person other than Pandora and Sora who dared to attack Dawn with words. I knew exactly who it was.

"You, Pandora, haven't change either!" came another voice.

"Well, why don't you show yourself to us?" Pandora responded annoyed.

Two other people stepped out from the darkness.

"Nice to see you 2 again," Sora said without looking up from the sheets of paper she was reading on how to check that we haven't slacked off which Pandora had given her.

"How could you tell it's us without even looking up Sora?" the blue-eyed one responded.

"Well, duh! You 2 are the only one who dares to insult Dawn and Pandora. Am I not right Isaac and Joseph?"

The two of them smiled as I glance over and I totally let my guard down. That was my mistake. A monster suddenly pounced on me.

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